EARLY OUTCOME OF TRICUSPID REPAIR FOR FUNCTIONAL TRICUSPID REGURGITATION ASSOCIATED WITH RHEUMATIC MITRAL VALVE DISEASE; MODIFIED FLEXIBLE BAND ANNULOPLASTY VS. SUTURE ANNULOPLASTY Abdelfattah I. and Omar A. Ihab Abdelfattah, Lecturer of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cairo University Alaa Omar, Lecturer of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Cairo University Objectives: we investigated early outcome of follow-up by echocardiography, although the flexible band as a piece of tube graft (PTFE) difference was not statistically significant. There was no need for reoperation or hospital annuloplasty versus suture annuloplasty for functional tricuspid regurge associated with readmission for right-sided heart failure for rheumatic mitral valve disease. tricuspid regurgitation in both groups by the end Methods: we prospectively reviewed patients of first year postoperatively. who underwent our technique of band tricuspid annuloplasty (n=28) versus suture tricuspid Conclusion: tricuspid band annuloplasty annuloplasty (n=32) for functional tricuspid using a piece of PTFE tube graft offered good regurgitation concomitant with surgery for outcome and tendency for improved durability rheumatic valve disease with a mean follow up than suture annuloplasty. of 12 months. Results: Thirty day mortality was zero in both Key words: tricuspid regurgitation (TR) – band annuloplasty – suture annuloplasty – DeVaga groups. Tricuspid regurge grade was lower for band group at discharge and after 12 months repair-rigid ring - flexible ring INTRODUCTION: Although some reports suggest that tricuspid regurgitation can resolve after diseased mitral valve has been replaced based on well known post-operative regression of pulmonary hypertension (1,2), others suggest that ignoring a diseased tricuspid valve at the time of surgery for left sided pathology can affect eventual outcome of the patient, and it may be associated with an increase in morbidity and mortality (3,4,5). Both ring and band annuloplasty have been performed for treating TR. Many types of rings and bands rigid, semi-rigid or flexible were used with no clear evidence of superiority and durability of each type (6). In this study we investigated early postoperative outcome up to 1 year after tricuspid annuloplasty for functional TR associated with rheumatic heart disease necessitating valve surgery. We compared modified flexible band using sized PTFE tube graft annuloplasty, to suture annuloplasty. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Patient population: From March 2012 to May 2013, sixty patients underwent tricuspid valve repair together with mitral and/or aortic valve surgery. We excluded patients with organic tricuspid valve disease. Patients undergoing concomitant CABG, aortic aneurysm and root surgery, infective endocarditis cases, low EF, together with redo cases were also excluded. Tricuspid regurgitation was scored as follows: Grade 1: mild regurge Grade 2: moderate regurge. Grade 3: moderate-to-severe regurge. Grade 4: severe regurge. Significant regurge was defined as regurgitation equal or more than grade 3. End points: The primary end points were: • Postoperative hospital mortality • The degree of tricuspid regurgitation (TR) upon discharge, and at 12 months follow up. Secondary end points were: • One year survival • Hospital readmission for right-sided heart failure • Need for reoperation for severe TR Surgical Technique: Conventional median sternotomy, standard cardiopulmonary bypass using bicaval cannulation. Myocardial protection was achieved using antegrade intermittent cold cardioplegia. Mitral valve replacement was performed with preservation of posterior leaflet in all patients. Tricuspid valve annuloplasty was performed under cardiac arrest. Saline infusion test was used to confirm adequate leaflet coaptation and competent valve.Postoperative transthoracic echocardiography was performed upon discharge and 1 year later. 1-Flexible Band: Twenty-eight patients had repair of their TR using a piece of flexible polytetraflouroethylene (PTFE) tube graft commonly used for aortic root replacement (figure 1). The band annuloplasty was performed by a number of 2/0 Ethibond sutures starting from anteroseptal commissure to end at posteroseptal commissure. Interrupted 2/0 braided sutures without pledgets were placed circumferentially starting from anteroseptal commissure to posteroseptal commissure. Sutures were then passed through the band. The band size for all cases was pre-determined length of 3 cm and 3 mm width. The width is roughly 2 rings of the tube graft. The 3 cm length is measured Over a 10 ml syringe. 3 cm length is equal to the distance between the zero mark and the 6 ml mark of the syringe (figure 2). Fig. 1 flexible PTFE band Sutures taken to plicate the annulus are passed through the flexible PTFE band Fig. 2 Sutures tied down and band fixed in-place 2- Suture Annuloplasty: Standard DeVaga annuloplasty was performed in 18 patients, and segmental annuloplasty was performed in 14 patients. 2/0 Ethibond sutures were used in all cases of suture annuloplasty group. Statistical Methods: Data were statistically described in terms of mean ± standard deviation (± S.D), frequencies (number of cases) and percentages when appropriate. Comparison of numerical variables between the study groups was done using Student t test for independent samples. For comparing categorical data, Chi square (χ2) test was performed. Exact test was used instead when the expected frequency is less than 5. p-values less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. All statistical calculations were done using computer programs SPSS (Statistical Package for the Social Science; SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) version 15 for Microsoft Windows. RESULTS: Preoperative characteristics: Preoperative demographics, NYHA class and echocardiography data showed no statistical difference between the 2 modalities of annuloplasty. Table 1 pre-operative patients characteristics Suture group (n=32) 42±12 Band group (n=28) 39±14 p Value 14 (44%) 18 (56%) 13 (46%) 15 (54%) 0.6 TR Grade PAP (mmHg) CPB Time (Min) 3.25±0.76 67 ± 18 115± 37 3.46±0.63 62 ± 25 110± 45 0.8 0.7 0.3 Cross-Clamp Time (Min) 64 ± 27 75 ± 23 0.9 NYHA Functional Class 3.2± 0.6 3.4± 0.8 0.6 Age (yrs) Gender Male Female 0.9 Endpoints: Primary endpoints: Hospital mortality: • All patients in both groups were discharged from hospital in good condition with zero hospital mortality. Postoperative TR grade: • There was significant improvement of TR grade postoperatively compared to preoperative values in both groups (p=0.03 and 0.01 respectively). The mean preoperative TR for the suture group was 3.25±0.76 and the mean preoperative TR for the band group was 3.46±0.63 (table 1). At discharge the mean TR for the suture group was 1.88 ± 0.73 and the mean TR grade for the band group was 1.79 ± 0.53 (tables 2,3). Table 2 postoperativeTR grade for suture annuloplasty group TR grade 1 Suture group (n=32) At discharge (n=32) 9 12 month post op (n=30) 2 2 3 4 20 1 2 13 12 3 Mean ± SD 1.88 ± 0.73* 2.5±0.8 *p value 0.03 compared to preoperative value Table 3 below highlights TR grades at time of discharge and at 1 year for the PTFE band group. Table 3 Band group (n=28) TR grade At discharge (n=28) 1 yr post op (n=27) 1 8 4 2 18 15 3 2 6 4 0 2 Mean ± SD 1.79 ± 0.53* 2.22 ± 0.79 * p value 0.01 compared to preoperative value. The mean TR grade for the suture group at 12 months was 2.5 ± 0.8, and for the band group was 2.2 ± 0.79 with no statistical difference between the 2 groups (p = 0.9). Tables 2 and 3 capture the detailed hospital discharge and 12 months TR grades for both groups. Figure 3 compares the TR grade of the suture group to the band group at the three time points; preoperative, at discharge and at 12 months. The difference between the two groups was not statistically significant. 4 3.5 p = 0.1 3 2.5 suture group 2 band group 1.5 1 0.5 0 preopeartive at discharge 1 yr post op Figure 3 mean TR grade of the suture group and band group Secondary endpoints: 12 months survival: • 2 patients in the suture group died . One patient died due to cerebral hemorrhage complicating warfarin toxicity (5 weeks after discharge), and the other due to early infective endocarditis over the prosthetic mitral valve (10 weeks after discharge). • In the band group one patient died almost 6 weeks after discharge. The patient was admitted in the ER suffering from cardiac tamponade and an INR of 8. The patient then rapidly went into cardiac arrest with failed attempts of resuscitation. Hospital readmission for right-sided heart failure: Over the 12 months period of the study, none of the patients in both groups needed to be readmitted to the hospital to control right-sided heart failure. Re-operation: After 1 year follow up and despite that some patients had tricuspid regurgitation grade 3 or 4 there was no need for reoperation and those patients were compensated on anti-failure measures. DISCUSSION Functional TR occurs primarily due to annular dilatation and subsequently failure of leaflet coaptation. Tricuspid annular dilatation occurs mainly in its anterior and posterior aspects, which can result in significant functional TR as a result of leaflet mal-coaptation (4). Many authors suggest that tricuspid annular dilatation is an ongoing pathology that will eventually lead to severe TR. They advise early surgical correction regardless of the severity of TR. This is due to the fact that uncorrected TR even without severe annular dilatation may worsen or persist after mitral valve surgery, leading to progressive heart failure and poor survival (1,2,3). However, the use of concomitant TV annuloplasty for mild/moderate functional TR remains a controversial subject, because limited available data related to the long-term outcomes of concomitant TV annuloplasty exist (8). Yilmaz, et al. concluded that TV annuloplasty is rarely necessary for MV disease because TR progression after MV surgery is unlikely. They insisted that progression of TR was clinically insignificant and did not lead to the risk of further surgery (7). These patients often require substantial doses of diuretics to maintain Euvolemia (9). Many studies report risk factors for recurrent TR following tricuspid annuloplasty. In one study the authors reported that regardless of the types of annuloplasty, recurrence of TR early after the procedure was associated with preoperative tethering of tricuspid valve leaflets, and postoperative left ventricular dysfunction. Those two factors especially predict mid-term outcome of tricuspid repair. Increased right ventricular pressure also results in worse TR during mid- term follow-up. However, the authors did not report on the difference between the types of annuloplasty as regards to better or worse outcome (6). The degree of tricuspid regurgitation observed postoperatively in our study is comparable with results obtained from other studies. In our study we fixed functional TR in patients with moderate-to- severe or severe TR. This is consistent with most of the authors elsewhere. However, Murashita et al. recommends operating on patients with even mild TR if a patient has atrial fibrillation or pulmonary hypertension (10) TV annuloplasty is mostly applicable to patients with functional TR. However, the incidences of residual and recurrent TR are reported to be high. McCarthy et al described 790 patients who underwent TV suture annuloplasty for functional TR and found that the incidence of residual TR was 15% one month after repair (11). Tang, et al. reported that there was a 30% TR recurrence (among 702 patients) at a mean follow-up of 5.9 years after TV annuloplasty (12). In the current study tricuspid regurge grade was lower in the band annuloplasty group, although it didn’t reach statistical significance, for all grades of regurge severity. The reason may be attributed to higher tensile strength of the PTFE graft compared to the suture material. One other reason may be the pre-determined band length (3 cm) causing more plication of the annulus as compared to the suture group. This under-sizing of the annulus may have contributed to the tendency of less residual/recurrent TR postoperatively in the band group vs. the suture group. Although some patients suffered from late moderate TR in both groups, the clinical symptoms were not significant. More than 50% of patients who had moderate TR were in NYHA functional class I. the clinical condition was well controlled through medical treatment and non of the patients in both groups required re-operation for their residual TR. There were no differences in survival and freedom from major cardiac/cerebrovascular adverse events between the two groups. However, freedom from moderate to severe TR was higher with band annuloplasty than with suture annuloplasty, albeit the difference was statistically insignificant. Limitations: 1234- Small number of patients. Short period of follow up. Single institution experience. We have not examined the geometry of the tricuspid annulus following annuloplasty with the two modalities by echocardiography. It would be interesting to see how the flexible PTFE band behaves and whether the annulus keeps 3-dimensional geometry. CONCLUSION: Repair of functional TR by a piece of PTFE tube graft is a simple, safe and effective way to manage moderate-to-severe and severe incompetence. There is tendency for lower incidence of residual TR with this technique compared to suture annuloplasty up to one year postoperatively. Longer follow up periods and larger number of patients is needed for better confirmation of earlier promising results. REFRENCES 1- Izumi C, Miyake M, Takahashi S, et al. Progression of isolated tricuspid regurgitation late after left-sided valve surgery. Clinical features and mechanisms. Circ J 2011; 75: 2902-7. 2- Koelling TM, Aaronson KD, Cody RJ, et al: Prognostic significance of mitral regurgitation and tricuspid regurgitation in patients with left ventricular systolic dysfunction. Am Heart J 2002; 144:524-529. 3- Kirklin J, Barrat-Boyes B: Cardiac Surgery, New York, John Wiley & Sons, 1986. 4- Izutani H, Nakamura T, Kawachi K. Flexible band versus rigid ring annuloplasty for functional tricuspid regurgitation. Heart Int 2010; 5: e13. 5- Holper K, Haehnel JC, Augustin N, et al: Surgery for tricuspid insufficiency: long-term follow up after DeVega annuloplasty. J ThoracCardiovascSurg 1993; 41:1-8. 6- Benedetto U, Melina G, Angeloni E, et al. Prophylactic tricuspid annuloplasty in patients with dilated tricuspid annulus undergoing mitral valve surgery. J ThoracCardiovascSurg 2012; 143: 632-8. 7- Yilmaz O, Suri RM, Dearani JA, et al. Functional tricuspid regurgitation at the time of mitral valve repair for degenerative leaflet prolapse: the case for a selective approach. J ThoracCardiovascSurg 2011; 142: 608-13. 8- Navia JL, Brozzi NA, Klein AL, et al. Moderate tricuspid regurgitation with leftsided degenerative heart valve disease: to repair or not to repair? Ann Thorac Surg 2012; 93: 59-67; discussion 68-9. 9- Dreyfus GD, Corbi PJ, Chan KM, Bahrami T. Secondary tricuspid regurgitation or dilatation: which should be the criteria for surgical repair? Ann Thorac Surg 2005;79:127–132. 10- Murashita T1, Okada Y, Kanemitsu H, Fukunaga N, Konishi Y, Nakamura K, Koyama T. Long-Term Outcomes of Tricuspid Annuloplasty for Functional Tricuspid Regurgitation Associated with Degenerative Mitral Regurgitation: Suture Annuloplasty Versus Ring Annuloplasty Using a Flexible Band. Ann Thorac Surg. 2014; 20 (6): 10261033 11- McCarthy PM, Bhudia SK, Rajeswaran J, Hoercher KJ, Lytle BW, Cosgrove DM et al. Tricuspid valve repair: durability and risk factors for failure. J ThoracCardiovascSurg 2004; 127:674–85. 12- Gilbert H, Tang GHL, David TE, Sing SK, Maganti MD, Amstrong S, Borger MA. Tricuspid valve repair with an annuloplasty ring results in improved long-term outcomes. Circulation 2006; 114: I-577-I-581
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